Old English Game Chicken

As the name suggests, the Old English Game chicken is one of the oldest poultry strains. The breed is descended from ancient cock fighting birds (known as the Pit Game), brought to Great Britain during the 1st century by the Romans. And the breed has been seen in Great Britain since the 19th century and has not changed very much for over thousand years. The Old English Game fetch a very high sale price and is prized among poultry breeders. Today poultry breeders used to keep the breed for poultry exhibitions and try to develop stock. Previously, standard Old English Game cocks were originally bred for cockfighting.

But in the 1850s, cockfighting became illegal in Australia and Britain and the Old English Game chicken is now usually raised just by poultry enthusiasts. The breed is probably the first chicken breed ever developed in Britain. And they were used for developing many other breeds. Today the Old English Game chicken is raised mainly for exhibition or ornamental purposes. There are many color varieties available of this chicken breed. There is a bantam version of Old English Game chicken. Review characteristics, behavior and full breed profile below.

Characteristics
The Old English Game chicken is a small and tightly feathered bird. It carries itself upright with the chest puffed out, making the bird look bigger. The traditional Old English Game chicken has a muscular, compact body, broad shoulders with hard, glossy feathers. They have large necks with strong heads. Their beaks are large and well curved. They have indomitable spirit and fearless large eyes. They have small thin earlobes and wattles and their comb is a single comb.

Old English Game Bantam Cock & Hen

The Combs and wattles are of red color. Their skin color is white. Old English Game chicken has short and strong legs and the wings are large and powerful. They have four toes ending in curved, long nails. As they have very good muscle, so they are wonderful for meat production. On an average, standard Old English Game cocks weight about 2.26 kg and hens about 1.18 kg. Old English Game chicken has many color varieties. Some popular varieties are: Black, White, Spangled, Red Pyle, Brown Red, Golden Duckwing, Black Breasted Red, Dun, Brassy Back etc. Photo from Wikipedia.

Behavior/Temperament
The Old English Game chicken is very popular among the poultry fanciers because of it’s gameness, alertness, upright appearance and confident personality. The breed is tend to be noisy, very active and intolerant of confinement. They are great foragers and are very suitable for free range chicken farming system. Roosters are aggressive and can’t be kept together. The Old English Game roosters are very territorial and will defend his ground against other invading roosters. It is recommended to keep the roosters separated after six months of age for this reason. If the roosters are kept together, then they will fight to the death. The Old English Game hens are aggressive too and should not be kept with other more docile breeds. Hens lay well and makes an excellent, reliable brooder and a very protective mother. They produce medium sized white colored eggs. The Old English Game chicks possess the fighting nature from a very young age and they are pretty slow to mature. Old English Game chicken is also noted for their longevity. It has an average of 15 years or more lifespan. Bantam version is very good as pets. Review full breed profile of Old English Game chicken below.